Let It Snow
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: Christmas Eve finds Mike and El on an adventure to get to Benny's for a Christmas Eve party before a snowstorm hits. With a keg of beer and James Dante in tow, two best friends realize some things they never dare to say aloud. Based on "Let It Snow".
1. Chapter 1

**.**

**Chapter 1 **

"You should just tell her," Lucas said as he finished wrapping Max's present.

"Tell who, what?" Mike asked, feigning stupidity even though he knew exactly who Lucas was talking about.

"You should tell _El _that you want what you have now, except with holding hands and kissing."

Mike shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well then, it's obvious to everyone but you!" Lucas leaned back to admire his handiwork. "You and El _totally _in love with each other! Don't give me that bogus, _we've known each other since before we were born _crap either! Its bull and you know it."

Mike didn't answer him, instead, he looked at Lucas' sloppily wrapped gift and frowned. "I thought you and Max had broken up again. Why are you giving her something for Christmas? Are you trying to get back together with her _again_?"

"No!" Lucas insisted. "I'm just giving her a gift because I had it before we broke up and it would be a shame for it to go to waste because it's something only _she _would like. Trust me, my days of pining over Max and then groveling for her forgiveness are long over. I am a rock, Michael. _A rock_!"

"Right," Mike said, unconvinced, he would believe that Max and Lucas were over each other when they were both in relationships with other people.

It was Lucas's turn to change the subject. "So, what are you and the lovely El up to today? Your annual Christmas Eve tradition of watching movies?"

Mike shrugged. "I guess so."

"Don't you ever want to change things up?"

Mike hated talking about his feelings for El, especially with his best friends, who teased him mercilessly about them with the exception of Will. The truth was he _was_ in love with her. He had been for as long as he could remember. "She probably doesn't feel the same way," he finally answers.

"What are you guys talking about?" El interrupted as she breezed into Lucas's room.

"Nothing," Mike replied hastily. "Just how Lucas and Max aren't getting back together this time."

El seemed to accept his answer as she took a sparkly clip out of her hair and adjusted it. "Oh. Okay, are you ready to go?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready to go. See you at Benny's later, Lucas."

Lucas smirked as he reaches for a roll of plaid ribbon and started to wind it around the present. "Have fun you two."

"What was that all about?" El asked as they walked down the stairs together.

"Oh. . . you know Lucas. . ." Mike answered vaguely.

"Are you kids leaving?" Mrs. St. Clair called from the kitchen.

"Yes!" El and Mike chorused together.

"Okay then, have a good Christmas Eve!" she replied.

"You too!"

El tucked her hands in her coat pockets when they were outside and looked at Mike cautiously. "Hey, Mike. . . I was wondering if you'd be interested in doing something different other than just watching movies this year. I mean, we can still do it _later _but—"

"What were you thinking about doing?" Mike asked immediately.

"You remember James? He was the year above us. He invited us to a party."

"_Us?" _

"Well, he invited me but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I brought you along. He's a really nice guy."

Mike wanted to say no, back when James had been at school he had been one of the most popular, good looking, and athletic guys there. There was no way he'd be able to compete with _him_. But he didn't want to say no and have El choose someone else over him.

He sighed, barely able to conceal the reluctance in his voice. "Sure, we can go to the party if you'd like."

"It'll be fun!" El tried to assure him.

Mike wasn't so sure about that but he wasn't going to object either. If it was something she really wanted to do, he would go along with it willingly despite the outcome. He opened the passenger door for her, watching as she slid in the car. He couldn't help feeling like everything was about to change and he didn't think it was necessarily going to be in a good way.

"Fun," he repeated, looking at the gathering snow clouds and wishing it would start to storm so he could change his mind. He couldn't think of anything less fun than going to a party with college students who had ignored him when they were in high school and could care less about him now that they didn't see each other every day.

El pressed her lips together. "We don't have to do it, if you don't want to."

Whenever Mike looked at El, he didn't want to disappoint her. So, he turned on the car and pulled out of the St. Clair's driveway. "No, its fine. . . where is it?" he said.

**.**

He looked at the pair of skates El had rented him with trepidation, his heart sinking a little. He didn't think his Christmas Eve could get any worse than it already had in the span of an hour. But now he had to try and ice skate in front of a bunch of jocks.

He knew he was going to embarrass himself. There was no way around it, his coordination sucked. He was going to fall on his face and have to get stitches. . . or worse, everybody would laugh at him and then the whole school would know about it when they got back from Christmas vacation.

El was already sitting down and taking off her shoes. "Come on Mike!" she urged.

"I think I'm just going to watch for now—"

"El!" I'm glad you could make it!" James interrupted as he jogged up to them and grinned. He glanced over in Mike's direction. "You brought Wheeler! You two are still joined at the hip. It's good to see some things never change."

Mike had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't remind James that he was only going to college 3 hours away and he had been home for Thanksgiving break.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought Mike along with me," El said. "I already had plans with him and I didn't want to leave him alone."

"That's fine! Glad you could both come!" James answered enthusiastically as he clapped Mike on the back. "Good to see you again, man! Is your sister still dating Harrington?"

"Yeah."

"It's good to see some things never change!" James repeated. "Get your skates on and let's get this party started! I'll meet you guys on the ice!"

Mike slowly toed off a sneaker while El finished tying her skates.

She stole a glance at him. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I know the whole physical activity thing isn't. . . your _thing_."

Mike shrugged. "We can watch _The Bishop's Wife_ later," he told her.

El watched as Mike pulled off his other sneaker. "Do you want me to wait for you while you finish putting your skates on?"

"You can go on ahead. I don't mind," Mike replied.

El hesitated for a minute and then slowly got to her feet, steadying herself on her blades before teetering off to the rink. Mike couldn't look away as James met her and they started to skate together.

He frantically pulled on his skates and tied them sloppily before rushing over to join El and James.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" El called teasingly.

"No! I've got it!" Mike answered indignantly, slipping a little bit as soon as his feet touched the ice.

"I'll be right back James," El said, skating over to Mike and holding out her hand for him to take. "Come on, don't be stubborn! It would be a shame if anything happened to your face."

"Awww. Does lwittle Mikey need a girl's help to skate?" Troy mocked from the sidelines.

Mike felt his cheeks grow hot and he gently pushed El's hand out of the way. "James and Troy are still friends? I guess James is right, some things never change!" he muttered.

"Ignore him," El whispered, grabbing his coat sleeve. "He's just a mouth breather who had to repeat the 12th grade and got left behind in Hawkins while all his friends went off to college."

Mike knew El was right but he was beginning to wish that he had declined El's invitation to go with her to this party. He should have just told her it was alright if she went without him and that they would hang out later.

He didn't know what had possessed him to go with her in the first place. He didn't want to admit that he had gone along to make sure El didn't _like like _James. It made him sound jealous and possessive. Two things he _couldn't _be because they weren't dating. . . and even if they were, it would still be unattractive on him.

He wanted to bang his head up against the glass partition. He was just thankful nobody could read his thoughts because he sounded like a complete idiot.

"Mike, are you okay?" El asked, interrupting his train of thought.

Mike nodded. "I'm fine. . . just a little rusty. . ." he stumbled. "I'm going to use a payphone to call Dustin and see if he's still going to try and have that party at Benny's tonight."

"Just be careful!" El cautioned.

"I'm _fine_!" Mike repeated, suddenly remorseful when he saw the look that fluttered across El's face. "Enjoy yourself. I'll be right back."

He waited for El to skate away and rejoin James before he abandoned the ice. He dug in his pockets for some change and went over to the row of phones against the wall. He knew the number for Benny's by heart, so it didn't take him long to punch it in.

In a matter of seconds, the phone was ringing.

"Benny's Diner," the voice on the other end answered. "Yes, we're open despite the impending storm. Yes, we have power. The hours are the same as usual even though it's Christmas Eve."

"Hi Max, its Mike. Could I talk to Dustin, please?"

"He's a little busy right now. A whole cheerleading squad just infiltrated the place and he is doing his best to try and impress them. Is everything okay? Is there something I can help you with?"

Mike was tempted to ask Max if El had mentioned being in contact with James or if she had a crush on him. But he knew if he asked her, Max would give him a lecture on the sacredness of female friendship and the secrets they shared.

He had to think of another way to get the information out of her without being direct about it. Even though being subtle was undoubtedly not one of his strongest suits.

"I'm fine. . ."

"Ah!" Max said with understanding in her voice. "This is about James, isn't it?"

"Maybe a little. . ." Mike trailed off.

"You don't have anything to worry about. They're barely even friends, Mike! We ran into him yesterday at the mall and he asked if we wanted to go to a party. She doesn't have some secret relationship with him."

Mike observed James and El. "Not yet anyway."

Max huffed. "Would you just get it over with and tell her that you're in love with her? You're not making this easy on anyone. Anyway, I gotta go! Dustin wants to know if you can try and get some beer for his party tonight. See ya!"

Mike listened to the dial tone, trying to make sense of everything that happened. He knew two things for certain. He _wasn't _going to tell El that he loved her and he wasn't going to try to illegally try to buy beer.

He hung up the phone and made his way back to the bench where his sneakers were. He started to remove his skates, for a second he thought he would just leave. He'd apologize to El later for leaving. But right now, he couldn't stand around and watch her with someone else despite his protests that he wasn't in love with her.

Unfortunately for him, he had alerted El's attention and she skated back to him.

"You're not leaving already, are you?" she asked.

"I just remembered that Dustin asked me to run to the store and pick up a few things for his party tonight. Soda and chips, he's stuck at work all day."

"I can go with you, I'm under no obligation to stay here."

"You just got here though and I know how much you enjoy this sort of thing!" Mike objected. "I would hate for you to leave on my account."

El grinned. "Come on Mike, since when do I do anything I don't want to? I'll come with you. I won't even tell anybody I'm leaving."

"Fine," Mike found himself agreeing. You can come with me. . . if you really don't mind not staying."

They didn't bother saying goodbye to James, they just turned in the skates and made a break for the wintery outdoors.

"You're sure you don't mind?" Mike double-checked.

"Stop worrying about it, Mike! I'm 100 percent sure I don't mind. I can always go back inside if _you_ don't want me to come with you."

Mike knew better than to argue with her. Once El set her mind to something, she was determined and nothing could change her mind regardless of the consequences. He shook his head. "I do want you to come with me," he replied. "But there's something I should tell you first."

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

**This story is inspired by "Let It Snow". More particularly it is inspired by Tobin an Angie's story in the movie/book. If you haven't seen it, that's okay! Please forgive me if my updates are sporadic or on different days of the week at best. My life is crazy right now but I'm excited about sharing this with you, so I will try and be consistent as possible.**

**Hope you'll leave a review and tell me what you think.**

**Until Next Time!**

**Love,**

**Holly, 11/30/2019**


	2. Chapter 2

**Shout-outs: Nerdygeekalex, tank03, and JenicaKrung for reviewing chapter 1! **

**.**

**Chapter 2**

El furrowed her eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?" she asked, frowning.

"It's just that Dustin's having a party tonight and he wants me to try and bring a keg of beer."

El burst out laughing. "A keg of beer?" she repeated. "Could he have picked a worse person to try and illegally bring beer to a party for minors?"

Mike felt just the slightest bit offended by her statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

El sobered up immediately. "I don't mean it as a _bad _thing!" She tried to console him. "You're just so. . . straight-edge and you follow all the rules. Not to mention, everyone in town has known us since we were babies, I just have no clue how Dustin expects you to buy beer."

"That's not what you said!" Mike objected. "You said that Dustin couldn't have picked a worse person to buy beer."

"It's not a bad thing," El repeated, coughing a little. "Maybe if you had the time to plan it out, you would go to a different town to buy beer or something."

"You're just trying to make me feel better!" Mike frowned. "Except it sounds like a bad thing still."

El got a sly look on her face. "I actually might have a solution to your problem," she said. "As coincidence would have it, Troy is supposed to be hosting a keg party out at the quarry tonight. I know for a fact that he has beer in the back of his car _right now_. . ."

"Are you suggesting we take Troy's alcohol!?"

She shrugged and stuck her hands in her pocket. "Why not? It'll be payback for all the times he's made our lives miserable over the last dozen years or so."

"Jane Eleanor Rich, I cannot believe what I'm hearing right now!" Mike said. "You're just as good as me. If not better, what would possess you to do something so. . . _naughty_?"

"I don't know. Let's have an adventure, Mike! Aren't you tired of not doing anything besides playing D&D and watching old movies?" El said.

"We're doing something different right now," Mike pointed out.

"We barely survived 15 minutes in there," El answered. "I overheard Troy tell someone the car wasn't locked."

"Why is that information he would just offer up freely?"

"Because he's dumb!" El reminded him as she made her way to Troy's bright red Porsche. "Are you coming to help me or not?"

Mike's instincts were telling him that stealing from Troy would be the worst idea that he ever had. But at the same time, all he could hear were the insults the other teenager had called him over the years. Suddenly, the desire to give him a taste of his own medicine overtook his common sense. He looked both ways and followed after El.

"You know this is a bad idea," he told her. "There is no way the two of us can carry 1,984 ounces of liquid by ourselves. We're not the strongest people in Hawkins."

"Oh ye of little faith!" El replied, rolling her eyes. "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

She opened the trunk, her eyes widening when she saw the steel drum of beer sitting nestled between an old hockey jersey and discarded Converse sneakers. Mike leaned over her shoulder and shook his head.

"There's no way we're going to be able to carry that," he repeated.

El was already trying to navigate it out of the bed of the trunk. She fixed Mike with a look. "Give me a hand, would you!?"

Mike snapped to action, struggling and failing to help her lift it. He knew better than to say '_I told you so'_ though, so he kept his mouth shut and focused on the task at hand.

"Hey! What are you guys doing?" Somebody interrupted them.

Mike's heart sank, he had been caught red-handed by Troy. He could only imagine the beating he would have to endure and the name-calling El would suffer. He started to formulate an excuse when he saw _James _jogging towards them.

"James!" El said, smiling at him.

"You two left the party earlier," James pointed out.

"Mike's a horrible skater," El responded sweetly.

"So, um, what are you doing by Troy's car?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe we're stealing his keg for our friend Dustin's party tonight," El replied.

James pushed them out of the way. "Well, you're not doing a very good job of it. Are you?" he picked it up with the ease of a quarterback. "Close the trunk for me, will you Wheeler?" he shouted as he sprinted towards the Wheeler's station wagon. "Then make a run for it!"

"Make a run for it? _Why?_" Mike asked.

Troy stormed outside his face was bright red with rage. "Are you _stealing_ my beer!?"

Mike ran faster than he ever had in his life. He couldn't imagine what Troy would do if he caught him but he didn't want to find out. He took his keys from his coat pocket and jumped in the station wagon. El and James were waiting for him, ready to go. He turned the ignition and tore out of the parking lot.

_Jingle Bell Rock _was blasting from the radio. El leaned over to turn down the volume. He didn't have to look into the rearview mirror to know Troy was following them.

"Wheeler, you're more like your sister than I thought!" James said, admiringly from the backseat.

"_Huh!?" _Mike turned his head around. "What's that supposed to mean?"

El hit his arm. "Mike, keep your eyes on the road! We could get into a car accident if you're not careful!"

Mike focused on his driving again. "I'm more like my sister than I thought?" he repeated.

"The things she's done its stuff legends are made of!" James replied. "I'm sure you've heard about it. Like when she drank almost a whole gallon of Billie Hargrove's Halloween punch and didn't even have a hangover at school the next day."

"Or the time she beat up Hargrove for giving Harrington a bloody nose with a dodge ball in gym class."

"I've never done anything like that before though. . ."

"One time she smuggled a keg of beer to prom," James said. "You're kind of doing that now. It makes it so much better because you pulled one over on _Troy_! You'll go down as a Christmas Eve legend too because of it. Don't worry about him telling either because it's illegal for him to have alcohol and if he tries to beat you up, I'm sure he'll have to answer to Nancy."

"Just what I want, my big sister sticking up for me," Mike grumbled.

"That's the last thing you have to worry about right now," El said. "It looks like Troy's following us."

Mike swallowed. "What should I do?"

"Speed up!" El replied.

"I don't think you've noticed but it's starting to snow!" Mike retorted. "The roads are probably iced over."

"Listen! Troy could easily go faster than the speed limit and run us off the road!" El told him, huffing. "I don't want to die on Christmas Eve, Mike! We're not even supposed to be out. My dad and mom think I'm in your basement, watching movies right now. If I die, my parents will kill me!"

Mike looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Troy was almost on his bumper. He breathed in deeply and put his foot to the gas, he didn't dare look at the speed gauge because if he saw how fast he was going, he would lose his courage and stop driving completely.

He gripped the steering wheel. "What if we get stopped? Do I need to remind you, not only are we speeding but we also are minors with a keg in the trunk?"

El rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Will told me that Hopper's working today. He usually gives us a pass."

"I'm not going to get a free pass," James piped up from the backseat. "Back in the day, I did a lot of stuff that gave the Chief a run for his money. If he catches us together, it might not go so well for you."

El and Mike exchanged panicked looks.

"What do we do?" Mike asked.

"Well, first of all, you don't have to freak out because there's no way Chief Hopper is hanging out, there's nowhere for him or any of the other guys from the station to hide out here waiting for joyriders," James tried to ease their worries. "Besides, I'm sure he has more important things to do, it being Christmas Eve and all."

"We need to think rationally," El said, taking a deep breath. "We're doing one of your D&D campaigns and we're in inimical danger. What does your character do?"

Mike stared at her blankly. "I don't know! I usually have _months _to write a D&D campaign before we actually play it!"

James looked confused. "You still play Dungeons & Dragons? Aren't you seniors?"

Mike was just about to answer when Troy rear-ended him, causing him to lose control of his car and spin into a ditch.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

**Another chapter finished. Sorry that it took me longer than I expected to update. It's one of those things where you think life is going to calm down and it doesn't. Including sickness and my uncle having cancer. I also realize this is not very Christmas-y. I apologize for that, it's completely by accident. Also, I've wanted to write a story where Terry and Andrew were El's parents for a while now. This seemed like the best time to do it. Anyway, tell me what you thought of this chapter! I am sorry it was so short. Be back with more soon.**

**Love,**

**Holly **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disneyprincess315 an Jenicakrung, thank you for the reviews! **

**.**

**Chapter 3 **

Mike watched as Troy sped past, flipping them off in the process. He turned to El, "are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," El assured him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mike repeated. "What about you James?"

"I'm good," James answered, giving him a thumbs up.

Mike put the car into reverse and tried to back out of the snowbank. But no matter how hard he pressed on the gas, he couldn't seem to inch his way out of the entrapment.

"I think we're stuck," El told him. "I think we passed the church. We should probably walk up and to call a tow truck to come and get us."

"Our parents are going to kill us!" Mike groaned. "We'll probably be grounded until graduation _and _my dad and mom will make me pay for the tow truck too!"

El shrugged. "Well, it's not like we can just let it stay here until the snow melts. It could last until spring!"

"I could try and push the car out of the snowbank," James told them.

"That's not necessary!" Mike protested.

The last thing he needed was James impressing El with his strength.

"I really don't mind!" James insisted. "I would hate for the two of you to get into trouble on Christmas Eve. Especially since this is my fault too begin with."

"How is it your fault?" Mike asked.

"If I hadn't invited El to the party then you would have never gotten into this situation. You would be doing whatever it is you usually do on Christmas Eve."

For a second, Mike missed the James who had been friends with Troy and called him '_Frog face'_. He had no idea how to deal with the version who invited him to parties and was concerned he would get them into trouble. He didn't know how to deal with the version of James who could possibly have a crush on his best friend.

"You're not going to get us into trouble," El assured him. "_We're_ the ones who came to the party and stole Troy's keg, it's not like you made us do it."

"Are you sure you don't want me to try and push the car out of the snow?" James double-checked.

"It's fine," Mike mumbled. "Let's just walk to the church and call a tow truck. We can hide out there until someone comes and helps. I don't think Troy will think to look in there if he decides to turn around and comes back."

They piled out of the car. James looked both ways to make sure no one was coming and then darted across the snowy street, yelling for Mike and El to _hurry_. The two of them scurried after him.

They burst into the church, their hearts racing from the fear of being caught and over-excursion. While Mike and El tried to catch their breath, James went to find a phone and a phonebook to put a call in for a tow truck.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked for the second time in a few minutes.

El nodded. "Remind me to start exercising more," she replied.

James returned and shook his head grimly. "I'm sorry guys but they said it's going to be a while before they can come and get us because of the weather. It looks like we're stuck here for the time being."

El looked around the building. "So, where's the last place Troy would look if he decided to come looking for us?"

"We could hide in the choir loft," Mike suggested as he opened a door and revealed a hidden staircase. "Ladies first!"

The trio made their way up the stairs, removing their coats as they shut the door behind them and draping them on a pew.

James sat down. "I can't believe I'm hiding out in a church."

"Wow! Look at this thing!" El said, observing the organ in the middle of the loft. "Play something, Mike."

"No way! You play?" James asked.

"He's really good!" El answered enthusiastically. "Play something, Mike! Play _The Whole Of the Moon_."

For a second, Mike was embarrassed. He hated performing in front of an audience and only did it when he had to for recitals and even _that _was too much for him. But he also hated saying no to El, so he rallied himself and put his fingers on the keys and started to play the first few notes of the song she had requested. El smiled at him and propped her elbows on the organ while James observed them from where he was sitting.

"_I pictured a rainbow, you held it in your hand. . ." _El sang, smiling at Mike, causing his heart to skip a beat.

Despite not being a great singer, he joined in with her. _"I had flashes but you saw the plan."_

"_I wandered out in the world for years while you just stayed in your room. I saw the crescent. You saw the whole of the moon," _they sang together.

El sat next to him on the bench and looked at him. _"You were there in the turnstiles with the wind at your heels. You stretched for the stars and you know how it feels to reach too high, too far, too soon. You saw the whole of the moon."_

"_I spoke about wings, you just flew. I wondered, I guessed, and I tried. You just knew. I sighed but you swooned. I saw the crescent. You saw the whole of the moon." _

El stood up again and walked back to where she was standing. _"Unicorns and cannonballs, palaces and piers. Trumpet towers, tenements, wide oceans full of tears. Flags, rags, ferry boats, __scimitars,__ and scars. Every precious dream and vision underneath the stars. . ."_

Mike realized that at some point El had stopped singing along with him. He looked up from the organ and saw her dancing and laughing with James. He hit a wrong note and started playing immediately, feeling a pang of jealousy stab him in the chest.

"Mike! Should we play _No Surrender_?" El asked as she came back to him.

"I'm good," Mike answered, not looking at her and he stood up and walked away.

"Come on, Wheeler! Play more!" James insisted as El looked at him incredulously.

"I'm going to check on the station wagon. Troy must be gone by now."

"We can all together," El said as she started to follow him. "Why are you acting so weird?

"It's okay!" Mike replied.

"Hey Mike, can I talk to you for a second?" El asked as she followed him out of the choir loft. "What's going on with you? You're acting like a completely different person right now!"

"I'm not acting like a completely different person!" Mike scoffed, taking a step backward. "You don't know what you're talking about El."

"Is this about James? Are you jealous?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm jealous of _James_, El. The football scholarship hero, a college boy."

"It sounds like you're jealous to me," El replied, looking at him directly.

Mike looked away, he didn't have a good answer for her. He definitely didn't think he could tell her what she wanted to hear. Especially since he wasn't sure what _that _was. He sighed. "Just go back to James," he said. "I'm going to go out and wait for the tow truck."

El looked like she wanted to argue with him some more, instead, she turned around and went back into the choir balcony.

Mike's heart sank when he realized he had forgotten his coat and he would have to either go back and see El again or face the elements.

"Are you one of our wise men?" an older man in a black shirt and starched white collar asked.

"I'm sorry?"

"Are you one of our wise men?" he repeated, holding out a long robe to Mike.

"Oh! I am one of the wise men!" Mike answered, grateful for the out. He took it and slipped it over his shoulders when the pastor had disappeared, he ducked outside.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

**Happy Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you are all having a great day. Again, I apologize that this is later than I would have liked. My life is just so insane right now. Tell me what you thought, please. I realize as I was rewatching Let It Snow yesterday that this is not as well fleshed out as it can be, so I need some reassurance. **

**Love,**

**Holly, 12/24/2019**


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

**Chapter 4**

Mike couldn't believe that he had to suddenly consider losing El to someone else. In all the years he had known her, he had taken her getting into a relationship with someone else for granted. He had foolishly thought that it would be the two of them _forever_.

He kicked himself mentally for not mustering up the courage sooner to tell her how he felt. Although, there was still the great possibility that he could have ruined their friendship in the process. She still might not have felt the same way about him and then nothing would have ever been the same again.

He climbed into the front seat and sighed, shrinking into himself as he tried to find some warmth from the wise man costume that he had stolen from the church.

Part of him really, _really _wanted El to come after him and ask him what was wrong again. But he knew with his luck, it was too much to ask for a second chance. He sighed and berated himself for being _so _stupid.

He hated the feeling that it was too late to do anything about the way he felt about El. He knew that he had blown it big time back at the church. It hadn't been the perfect opportunity to tell her how he felt. But maybe it had been as good a time as ever to broach the subject with her.

He just hadn't known what he would have said. Rationality had flown out the window as soon as he had seen her dancing with James.

It was just as well, he didn't have an eloquent enough speech planned to tell her that he loved her. It couldn't be something as simple as saying the words. He'd said them to her before, just as friends. It had to be different this time.

He had to let her know he meant it as something more.

Everything was always easier in films. Everyone always had the right thing to say and it was always almost a guarantee that the guy would get the girl before the credits rolled. Mike released a deep breath, all he wanted was to be the boy in the movie.

**.**

It was almost dark out when El finally came to see him. He rolled down the window and she leaned down to make eye contact with him.

"So, James and I are going to Dustin's party," she said. "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"I should really just wait here for the tow truck," Mike replied, resisting the urge to ask her to stay. "I'll be there as soon as possible. . . I have to bring the keg. I can't let Dustin down."

"Yeah. . ." El trailed off, she hesitated like there was something _she _wanted to say and then shook her head like she had thought better of it. "I'll see you there, Mike."

"See you there," Mike echoed, he watched her trudge off in the snow. He wanted to call out for her to stop but also, telling her right before she was going to a party with someone else felt like there was an air of manipulation to it. He wasn't going to have the worst timing and make her question how valid his feelings really were for her.

So, he let her go even though everything in him protested against it.

_Finally_,after what seemed like hours, the tow truck finally showed up and pulled him out of the snowbank. The operator told him to be more careful the next time before wishing him a Merry Christmas and driving off.

Mike guessed since he was finally free from snowy entrapment, he had no other choice but to make his way to Dustin's party. He got into the station wagon and started to drive towards Benny's Diner.

.

"You missed it!" Dustin exclaimed as Mike tried to wrestle the keg into the diner. "There are _cheerleaders_. Literal _cheerleaders _stranded here and they have no clue who I am!"

"They're not any different than the cheerleaders at our school. Plus, I'm pretty sure they can still tell you're a dork," Max said cheerfully as she passed them with a tray of milkshakes. "Hi, Mike!"

"She's in a good mood," Mike observed.

"Yeah, you missed that too. She got back together with Lucas," Dustin replied. It was kind of epic, he came in here and told her that they should really make an effort to be a couple this time around. Lucas mentioned you were going to tell El how you felt. . . how did that go?"

"It didn't go," Mike answered. "I didn't actually get the chance to tell her how I felt. It was kind of difficult with James around all the time."

"Wow. Sucks to be you man, I'm sorry! But you still have time to tell her how you feel. Christmas Eve isn't over yet. Besides, it's not like she has a thing for James. . . at least not that we know about yet. Anyway, I have to go before Benny catches me. Just put the keg down anywhere!"

Mike rolled it over to the counter and got himself a drink even though he didn't really like beer. He figured he would need something stronger than Coke to get himself through the rest of the night.

Besides, it wasn't like he had plans to get _drunk_. He would probably have to drive everyone home in the snow as it was.

"Mike!" Will said, coming up to him and grinning. "There you are! We've been waiting for you to show up."

"I had a bit of trouble with the station wagon," Mike explained. "I would have been here sooner if I wasn't so afraid to leave it in the snow. . . and that Troy was waiting for me to walk past him so he could pummel me."

Will looked confused. "What?"

"I'll tell you all about it later," Mike promised. "Is El here yet?"

"I haven't seen her," Will answered. "I thought you guys were spending the day together. Isn't that what you normally do on Christmas Eve?"

Mike looked around the room, slightly distracted. "We decided to do something different this year."

"Oh—"

"Wheeler! I've been looking for you!' Troy interrupted as he came up to Mike and Will. "You took my keg!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Mike protested even though he knew it probably wasn't best to lie under the circumstances.

Troy slapped the cup out of his hand and watery beer spilled all over the floor. "Oh yeah? Then what's _that_?" he challenged.

"What's that?" Mike asked dumbly.

Troy narrowed his eyes. "Stop pretending to be stupid. We all know that's not the case."

"Are you going to punch me? Just go ahead and do it, it'll be the cherry on the cake of an awesome day."

Will paled. "Mike do you have any idea what you're saying?"

Even Troy had the decency to look uncomfortable. "I'm going to let it go just this once. . . don't think you can steal from me again and get away with it though!"

"What was that all about?" Will asked.

Mike shook his head. "It's too loud in here. I'm going to go outside."

"Okay. . ."

Mike went up to the roof, it was a quiet spot where boys and girls usually went when they wanted to be alone. But since it was freezing out, he could count on not being interrupted by couples looking for a spot to make out.

He took a seat on one of the worn-out beach chairs and closed his eyes and for the first time all day, he relished the way the wind nipped at his cheeks.

"Hey!"

Mike opened one eye and saw El staring at him from the doorway. He scrambled to his feet "El! You're here!"

"I told you I would be," El replied, tugging her coat closer around her.

Mike walked to meet her. "El, I have something to tell you."

"Okay."

"Eleanor, I'm in love with you," Mike said, the confession tumbling out of his mouth more easily than he had expected. "Not in the childish kind of way where it's a crush that'll probably disappear in a couple of weeks. I love you in the kind of way where I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Where I want to tell you everything that happens with my day. When I hear something sad, I want to see if it makes you sad and when I hear something happy, I wonder if you'll be happy to. You're usually the last thing I think about at night and the first thing I think about in the morning. I know it's conventional and we've always said that we don't want to be conventional or settle for what our parents have. But I don't think it would be so bad."

El shrugged. "Maybe conventional isn't so bad. Our parents both still love each other, don't they? I have something to tell you now. I got scared when I realized it was you for me. But it's always been you. Mike, I love you too."

Mike leaned in and kissed her, after a second she kissed him in return. A few seconds later, her hands wound around his neck and she stood on her tip-toes to get better access to his mouth.

He pulled away. "Can I ask you a question? Do you mind if we still hang out with James Dante sometimes? I kind of like him now."

El laughed and nodded. "Now can I ask you a question. What _are _you wearing?"

"I'm one of the wise men," Mike replied like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

El rolled her eyes and kissed him again.

Mike decided this was the best Christmas present he could have asked for.

**The End**

**.**

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas day and that you got everything you asked for. I told you that I'd have this chapter finished sooner than later. I hope you enjoyed this last chapter. I know this story was rushed, it was all my fault. I think I might have something up my sleeve for New Year's but I'm not making any promises. If you're so inclined, leave a review on this chapter please! I'll be back with more soon.**

**Until Next Time!**

**Love,  
Holly, 12/28/2019**


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